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Food

Part of a nation's history lies in what people eat. Artifacts at the Museum document the history of food in the United States from farm machinery to diet fads.

More than 1,300 pieces of stoneware and earthenware show how Americans have stored, prepared, and served food for centuries. Ovens, cookie cutters, kettles, aprons, and ice-cream-making machines are part of the collections, along with home canning jars and winemaking equipment. More than 1,000 objects recently came to the Museum when author and cooking show host Julia Child donated her entire kitchen, from appliances to cookbooks.

Advertising and business records of several food companies—such as Hills Brothers Coffee, Pepsi Cola, and Campbell's Soup—represent the commercial side of the subject

This Glidden Varnish crate side was used by the Glidden Varnish Company of Cleveland, Ohio during the early 20th century. The crate side bears the image of an Eagle-like creature on the left, with plain black text that reads “Factories Cleveland, Ohio, Toronto, Ontario/ Branches New York Chicago Boston St. Louis Atlanta.” In 1875 Francis Glidden, Levi Rackett, and Thomas Bolles started a varnish company called Glidden, Brackett & Co. In 1894 the company became the Glidden Varnish Company, and in 1917 was renamed simply the Glidden Company when it diversified its product line by adding paints.

This shipping crate side contained tobacco from Middletown, Ohio manufactured by the P. Lorillard Company during the late 19th century. The wooden crate side features an extensive block of text that claims that the “manufacturer of this tobacco has complied with all the requirements of law” and warns against re-using to crate to ship tobacco.

This shipping crate side contained tobacco manufactured by the American Tobacco Company in Middletown, Ohio during the early 20th century. The P.J. Sorg Tobacco Company was the dominant tobacco manufacturer in Middletown before it was bought by the American Tobacco Company around 1898. The crate has a label noting that taxes were paid, and the bottom of the crate cautions “under the penalties of law” against reusing the packaging for tobacco shipments.

This is a Snider’s Catsup shipping crate end. Thomas A. Snider started the T.A. Snider Preserve Company of Cincinnati in 1879, and was renowned for his “catsup” recipe made from fresh tomatoes without preservatives. Snider was one of the largest ketchup makers at the turn of the 20th century and produced a variety of tomato related products and canned goods such as relish, tomato soup, oyster sauce, and pork and beans.

This shipping crate side contained Ivory soap flakes manufactured by the Procter & Gamble Company of Cincinnati, Ohio during the early 20th century. Soap flakes combined with water could be used for a variety of cleaning tasks

This is a patented iron case panel for “Race Match” matches, made by the Barber Match Company. The panel features the portraits of five women of different races titled Indian, Mongolian, Negro, Malay, and Caucasian. The text reads “5 races, 5 colors, 5 cents.” The Barber Match Company was founded in 1864 in Akron, Ohio. In 1881, the Barber Match Company united with eleven other match manufacturers to create the Diamond Match Company, which remains the company’s current name.

This shipping crate side originally contained Peters small arms ammunition manufactured by the Peters Cartridge Division of the Remington Arms Company in King Mills, Ohio during the early 20th century. Peters was once a Remington competitor and enjoyed financial success during World War I, before Remington bought Peters during the Great Depression.